Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Hydroelectric Power

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have updated their assessment of the potential for hydroelectric power, further to therise in electricity prices; and what assessment they have made of the benefits of introducing a scheme like the Contracts for Difference scheme to encourage the deployment of small-scale hydropower systems.

Lord Callanan: The Government acknowledges the valuable contribution of hydropower to the UK energy mix over many decades. However, economic and environmental constraints mean that in practice the viable remaining resource is less than 1% of total generation capacity, hence it will likely not be a significant contributor to our future generation plans. The Smart Export Guarantee puts a requirement on most electricity suppliers to offer to buy electricity that is exported to the grid by small-scale generators, and as announced by my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Autumn 2021 Budget and recent Spring Statement, business rates will include an exemption for eligible plant and machinery used in the generation and storage of renewable energy from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2035.

Housing: Temperature

Baroness Sheehan: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that the ideal room temperature for healthy and appropriately dressed people is 18 degrees Celsius, what plans they have, if any, to introduce an information campaign to encourage people to reduce their room temperatures.

Lord Callanan: The Met Office’s WeatherReady campaign, run in partnership with Cabinet Office and expert partners, is a year-round campaign to help individuals, communities and businesses prepare for and cope with severe weather and its impacts. It includes webpages on heating your home in winter and getting your home winter ready and provides advice on keeping homes at a comfortable temperature, even if this is slightly below 18°C, for healthy adults under the age of 65 and wearing appropriate clothing. Warmer indoor temperatures may be required for vulnerable individuals, including younger children.

Department of Health and Social Care

Hospital Beds

Lord Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many hospital beds there were in England in (1) 2005, (2) 2010, and (3) 2019.

Lord Kamall: The information is not held in the format requested. Prior to 2010/11, data on average bed capacity was collected by ward classification or sector. The following table shows the average daily bed capacity by sector in 2005/06.All specialtiesAverage bed capacityGeneral and acute132,826Acute108,134Geriatric24,692Mental illness29,802Learning disability3,927Maternity8,881Day only9,726Source: Department of HealthFrom 2010/11, quarterly data is available from all National Health Service organisations which operate beds, open overnight or day only. The following table shows the average daily and occupied beds times series in each Quarter in 2010/11 and 2019/20.YearQuarterTotal2010/111144,4552010/112141,4772010/113141,6302010/114142,3192019/201128,4072019/202127,1862019/203128,3262019/204128,943Source: NHS England

Coronavirus: Screening

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the PCR test funding for NHS providers will be continued through the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Kamall: Indicative allocations for National Health Service testing in 2022/23 include polymerase chain reaction testing through diagnostics in hospital settings, in-hospital moves for the severely immunocompromised, outbreak testing in healthcare settings, discharged patients to care homes, maternity patients on admission and emergency admissions. All policies will remain subject to review.

Pathology: Finance

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take toensure that funding for pathology services supports rapid-PCR technology for respiratory testing.

Lord Kamall: In 2022/23, the Department will continue to provide funding for polymerase chain reaction testing processing and testing activities within National Health Service settings, such as pathology services.

NHS: Staff

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the staffing implications for the NHSof the 104 per cent activity target over pre-pandemic levels for this coming year; and how any staffing shortfalls identified will be met and paid for.

Lord Kamall: No formal assessment has been made as an activity target for the National Health Service for the coming year has yet to be confirmed. NHS providers are responsible for ensuring that appropriate local workforce plans are in place for delivering services. The Department has invested £2 billion in 2021/22 and is allocating a further £8 billion over the next three years to support the recovery of elective services. This will deliver approximately 30% more elective activity by March 2025, compared to pre-pandemic levels. A proportion of this funding will be invested in workforce capacity and skills.

Health Services

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether theregulations limiting the number of patients able to wait in consulting rooms in healthcare settings have been lifted.

Lord Kamall: There are currently no regulations limiting the number of patients able to wait in consulting rooms in healthcare settings.

Respiratory System: Medical Examinations

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure that hospitals in all NHS health trustsallocate dedicated funding for respiratory testing for (1) diagnostic, and (2) treatment, purposes.

Lord Kamall: NHS England and NHS Improvement have invested £2 million to fund the establishment of respiratory clinical networks. These networks support the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan’s objectives and provide clinical leadership to respiratory services. As part of commissioned respiratory services, National Health Service hospital trusts are funded to provide respiratory testing for diagnostic and treatment purposes.Additional capacity has been created through 71 community diagnostic centres in 2021/22. These centres will provide an estimated 750,000 further tests per year in a number of specialties, including respiratory health.

NHS England: Staff

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the terms of reference for NHS England's upcoming workforce strategy.

Lord Kamall: Further information on the strategy, its conclusions and terms of reference will be published in due course.

Wales Office

M4: Wales

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Secretary of State for Wales intends to meet Welsh Ministers to discuss the M4 relief road around Newport.

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: The Secretary of State for Wales would be happy to meet Welsh Government Ministers and the Noble Lord to discuss the development of the M4 relief road. As it stands, the Welsh Government have a moratorium on new road building and have ruled out a M4 relief road. The UK Government continues to urge the Welsh Government to reconsider its position to enable congestion to be unblocked around the Newport area.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Russia: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to suspend Russia from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Russia has shown a flagrant disregard for the principles of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and for the commitments it has made through the organisation. However, continued Russian participation at the OSCE gives us the opportunity to call it out for its behaviour and encourage others to do the same. It also provides a channel for crisis communication, and keeps open a space for diplomacy.

Sergei Shoigu

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government when anyone in Government last spoke with Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defence minister; and whether they have any knowledge of his current whereabouts.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The most recent discussion between a member of the British Government and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu took place on 11 February when the Defence Secretary met him during his visit to Moscow.

Ministry of Defence

Turkey: Guided Weapons

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, either (1) unilaterally, or (2) with NATO partners, with the government of Turkey about the future of the S-400 missile defence system which that country acquired from Russia in 2019.

Baroness Goldie: As a close ally of Turkey, the UK has expressed its disappointment on numerous occasions, both publicly and privately since 2019, that Turkey purchased the S-400 system. As one of Turkey's closest international partners, the UK has emphasised repeatedly that this system poses a threat to NATO systems. We continue to encourage Turkey to recommit to find a way through this impasse with the US and other Allies.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Refugees: Ukraine

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they haveto fund the cost of air or rail travel for refugees from Ukraine who are allowed to enter the UK.

Lord Harrington of Watford: Once within Great Britain, Ukrainian beneficiaries will be eligible for free onward travel via national rail, light rail, bus and coach, to their final destinations across England, Scotland and Wales. Further information on the scheme is available at: www.nationalrail.co.uk/ukraine.We would not want the cost of travel to the UK to be a barrier and understand there are a number of schemes and offers that people can make use of. Some commercial operators have also offered free travel to Ukrainians including Eurostar.Ukrainian Displaced Persons Travel Scheme (docx, 17.4KB)

Homes for Ukraine Scheme: Human Trafficking

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that people smugglers and traffickers will take advantage of the Homes for Ukraine scheme; and what plans they have to introduce measures to deter such activity.

Lord Harrington of Watford: The Homes for Ukraine scheme has been designed with a clear safeguarding policy. The Home Office will conduct standard security checks on sponsors as well as on all adults aged 18 and over who will be living in the same household as the guests. This includes checks against government records and those of other third parties such as the Police National Computer, or its equivalent in Northern Ireland. Councils will be required to undertake appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for all adults in the sponsor household. I refer the noble Lord to the guidance for local authorities available online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-councilsHomes for Ukraine Guidance for Councils (docx, 26.7KB)

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what help and advice, if any, they are giving to sponsors of Ukrainian refugees regarding the possible impact on sponsors' mortgages, tenancy agreements, equity release, building insurance, and other related issues.

Lord Harrington of Watford: Government departments are engaging with key partners in the finance, letting and insurance sectors. There are published FAQs available online at www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-scheme-frequently-asked-questions which includes a link to a statement from the Association of British Insurers, whom we have consulted with at length to seek to ensure nobody generously sharing their accommodation are penalised in any way.Homes for Ukraine FAQs (docx, 27.3KB)

Refugees: Ukraine

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allocate social workers to support households that become foster carers to Ukrainian refugee children.

Lord Harrington of Watford: We are doing everything we can to support those most in need, but we must act on the wishes of the Ukrainian government who wrote to the UK Government on 7 March 2022, stating that: “any Ukrainian child who is currently outside Ukraine may not be adopted or placed in the care of foreigners without the consent of Ukraine”. The current rules in relation to unaccompanied children therefore respect this position.

Northern Ireland Office

Visas: Northern Ireland

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland last met the Irish Foreign Minister to discuss visa requirements for EU citizens entering Northern Ireland from Ireland.

Lord Caine: The Government will continue its strong cooperation with the Irish Government on a range of immigration issues, reflecting its commitment to both the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the Common Travel Area. These matters were most recently discussed at the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference in Dublin on 23 March.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland last met political parties in Northern Ireland to discuss the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Lord Caine: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regularly meets Northern Ireland political representatives to discuss Northern Ireland-related matters, including the Northern Ireland Protocol. Until the recent resignation of the First Minister, the Secretary of State also regularly attended meetings of the cross-Government Protocol Contact Group along with the Minister for Europe and the First and deputy First Minister and he looks forward to their resumption after the Northern Ireland Assembly Election on 5 May.

Roads: Belfast

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress on the commitments in the New Decade, New Approachagreement on the York Street Interchange scheme.

Lord Caine: The New Decade, New Approach deal helped to restore a fully functioning Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive in January 2020. A key priority for the Executive was to begin the urgent task of strengthening public services and delivering essential infrastructure projects, including the York Street Interchange. In 2020, an assurance review into the scheme was commissioned. Following the reporting of the review in 2021, the Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister asked for further work to be undertaken on the project proposals to maximise ambition on what can be delivered for connectivity and communities. Delivering essential infrastructure projects including York Street Interchange is, of course, primarily a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. The Government will encourage all parties to form an Executive as soon as possible following the Northern Ireland Assembly elections in May. The Government’s priority is for a strong, functioning Executive delivering a better, more prosperous, shared future for the people of Northern Ireland. To support this priority, the Government has provided the NI Executive with £15 billion per year over the next three years. This is the largest funding settlement for Northern Ireland since devolution and highlights once again the strength and security that Northern Ireland gains from being an integral part of the world’s fifth largest economy.

Visits Abroad: Republic of Ireland

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland last visited Dublin for meetings with Irish ministers.

Lord Caine: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland last visited Dublin for meetings with Irish Ministers on Wednesday 23 March where he attended the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference alongside Minister of State, Conor Burns.

Special Envoy to the United States on Northern Ireland

Baroness Hoey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many visits the Special Envoy to the United States on Northern Ireland has undertaken to the United States since his appointment; and on what dates those visits took place.

Lord Caine: The US Special Envoy on Northern Ireland has visited the US three times since his appointment: between 17 and 23 October 2021, between 13 and 22 December 2021 and between 16 and 18 March 2022.